Rescuers push for changes to Salina cat nuisance laws

John Berry / The Post-StandardLinda Young holds Snippet, one of the cats that she and her sister, Deb Young, care for as they await adoption at KittyCorner, the center the two sisters operate out of a home located in Liverpool.
Liverpool, NY -- A group of cat-rescuers in Salina wants the town to change a law under which they can be fined if their felines cause problems in the neighborhood. Linda Young, who operates KittyCorner, a cat rescue and adoption organization in Liverpool, is leading the fight.

“We’re not against the law,” Young said. “The law helps people protect their property especially when someone’s house cat is causing the damage. But we’re against the idea that people who care for feral cats can be fined as the cat’s owner.”

Young said the town should change the definition of a cat owner so it doesn’t include cat-rescuers or similar people.

Linda Smith, of Garden City Drive in the town of Salina, was fined $400 in January because the feral cats she cared for defecated on her neighbors’ lawns and damaged their property.

John Berry / The Post-StandardOne of the cats awaiting adoption at KittyCorner warms itself in the sun at the Liverpool home.

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Visit www.kittycorner.org to view pictures of cats available for adoption or call 457-4420.

Katherine Epolito, who lives across the street from Smith, said at the time that the two cats defecated and urinated on her property and destroyed her plants. Epolito brought more than 100 photos of the cats and the damage to Justice Andrew Piraino.

So Piraino found Smith guilty on four charges: two counts of allowing her cats to spray or defecate in such a way as to cause injury or annoyance; one count of allowing her cats to cause damage or destruction to property and one count of allowing her cats to commit a nuisance.

Esther Smith, Salina’s animal control officer, said she often receives complaints about cats urinating, defecating, and/or spraying on a resident’s property, scratching vehicles and destroying property.

Young said she knows feral cats can cause damage, but she wants the town board to work with cat-rescue groups to solve the problem. “The very best way to control the feral cat population is to trap the cats and have them spayed and neutered,” Young said. “If you trap the cats and kill them, it’s not going to solve the problem because you can’t get all of them. The ones that are left will reproduce and repopulate the area in a few months.”

Rescuers trap stray cats in their neighborhoods and bring them to a veterinarian to have them evaluated, updated on vaccinations, such as rabies, and spayed or neutered. The feral cats are than released back in the area. Young said if stray cats are domesticated or kittens, they are put up for adoption.

“These are volunteers who are using their own money because they care about these cats,” Young said. “We want the town board to understand the work we are doing is good for the community.”

Young has asked Jennifer Bailey, a veterinary student, to give a presentation on the trap-and-release method used by cat rescuers to the Salina town board at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at the Town Hall, 201 School Road in Liverpool.

Young said this is one of the worst times she has seen for stray and unwanted cats. “The economy has been bad and when people lose their homes, cats lose their homes too,” she said.

Young said she cannot accept any more cats at this time, but she has dozens of cats who need to find a good home. “We all need to work together to control the cat population,” she said. “We just hope the town will work with us and not against us.”